Dimitri Payet is up there with the most disliked in east London at the moment, having turned his back on West Ham in the winter window and heading back to France after going on strike early in January.

Prior to that, however, the playmaker was heralded by Hammers fans and had the rest of the Premier League looking on with envy at the gem Slaven Bilic had uncovered.

With Payet at the more mature end of his career the Croatian manager brought him to Upton Park from Marseille in 2015 for around £10m. Considering what he achieved in his time with the club, an absolute steal especially considering that, whilst they perhaps could have got even more, the 30-year-old was sold for £25m, back to the same club, earlier this year.

Whilst, after his antics, West Ham fans were happy to see the back of Payet, his flair and talent is yet to really be replaced at the London Stadium, meaning the club will be on the look out for some added spark this summer.

Having unearthed an untapped talent in Payet once before, Bilic looks to be going down a similar line this time around, with reports linking him with a move for 29-year-old striker Anthony Modeste.

Whilst the Frenchman, currently bagging goals for Koln, would come at a much steeper fee than Payet (supposedly around £25m) it is exactly what Bilic needs right now.

His efforts to land a big money striker failed spectacularly last summer, with Simone Zaza arriving with plenty of promise and leaving in January without a single goal to speak of, meaning that this time around there can be no fault.

Modeste, whilst closer to the twilight of his career than perhaps the peak, has notched 25 goals so far this season, more than West Ham’s top three goal-scorers combined this term. The Hammers are in desperate need of a forward who can step up and bag around 15-20 goals a season as they look to get back to the European spots next season and, whilst the Koln man may be an older, more short-term, signing he fits the bill.

Bilic needs someone to help him make a success of next season, otherwise it is more than likely he’ll be out of a job before Christmas.

With that in mind, having watched the success of Payet’s short stay at West Ham, another move of that ilk, undoubtedly with a far less controversial ending, makes perfect sense for the Hammers boss.